Woven mills



Patented July A30, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

JonN WYcxoEE METTLEE, 0E EAS'T MILLS-TONE, NEW JERSEY, ANDJOSEI'I' HAA'S AND RUSSELL EVANS, or IIARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNoES :ro 'THE INTER- WovEN MILLS, INC., oENEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, A "CORPORATION oF NEW HOSIERY.

Our invention consists in' the novel fea# tures hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which il.

lustrate Several embodiments of the invention, selected by us for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims. The toe portion rof a stocking is tapered from its junctionwith the foot portion to the tip,rand in both seamless and full fashioned stocln'ngs there isr a line' of what we terml selvage stitches at each side of the toe portion,l one of which usually comes into contact with the tender skin at the side of the great toe a little back from the'fronten'd or tip 'of the toe when the stocking is worn.y

This. side portion vof the great toe is subjected to greater pressure from the shoe, than other portions of the great toe andanything which increases the size .orI thickness of the line of selvage stitches, will produce a rough line 'or ridge which will irritate this tender portion of the great toe and 'cause great discomfort. Any reinforcement of the toe of a stocking which extends laterally from selvage to selvage, will therefore tend to increase lthe bulk'of the line of selvage stitches and result in -discomfort to the.'

wearer. It also follows thatif the stock- --ing' toe is reinforced throughout 1ts length,

or throughout the lengthof the top portion,

the-resulting heavier fabric, if'made heavy enough for protection at the point engaged by the toe nail, would be apt to irritate the tender skin. on the knuckle portions of the toe of the wearer. n

'The object of -our invention is to provide the toe portion of a stocking with a local reinforced portion of heavier and firmer fabric than -the'other portions of the toe, the said local reinforced portion being lobated on the upperside of the toe 'ortion of the Stocking, and having a wi t'hless than the d1s- 'tance between the lines bf selvage stitches at the sides of the toe portion and extending from the tip of the toe portion rearwardly a distance-less than the length of the toe 'portion, so that while said'local reinforced ortion may be made suliciently thick and rm to prevent injury to the toe portion of the t e wearer and l,especially the nail of the great toe, it will not lextend' downl alongside of the toes nor increase the thickness of the selvage stitches etend rearwardly far enough to produce irritation of. the toe knuckles, so that while the wearing qualities of the stockings are mcreased, there is no danger of irritating the tender portionsof the foot which are subjected to the greatest rubbing pressure of t-he shoe, and particularly the side\of the great toe at the inner ,side of the f oot a vshp'rt lstance' back from the ball of the toe, which 1s speclally subject to rubbing pressure from the shoe.

Our. invention is applicable both to seams less and full fashioned stockings, whether knit by'hand or by a knitting machine, and 1s particularly applicable to machinel knit seamless stockings. The additional local re'- inforced portion, or local heavier fabric, on

is preferably produced by the introductionof an additional continuous thread in a manner similar to the introduction of a plating thread, and which may be in fact a plating thread, which is carried across the toe 1n vopposite directions, preferably a distance less than the distance between the lines ofv selvagestitches, and fed with the other thread or threads'used in formingA the toe .to those needles only which knit the local .reinforced or-heavier toe tip portion on the Small part of the top only, of the toe portion which it occupies, 'This avoids the formation of float threads to be subsequently i l cut out, and prevents any loose or cut ends atthe opposite lateral edges of the local reinforced portion, either inside of or outside olthe stocking, which are valways objectiona e.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a slde elevation of a boarded and finished seamless half hose having our inventionembodied therein.

" Fig. 2 is an enlarged view ofthe toe portion and adjacent foot .portion thereof.

Fig. 3 is atop plan vview of the toe portion of the stocking shown in Figs. 1- and 2,

before boarding.

Fig. 4 is a similar plan view showing a 4slight modification.

Fig. 5 is al similar view showing our invention embodied in a full fashioned stockmg.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, we have shown our invention embodied in a seamless half' hose illustrated in its entirety in Fig. 1, .in which,

l, represents the usual ribbed top, 2, the leg. of the stocking, having the usual high spliced portion 3. 4 represents the heel pocket, usually of heavier fabric than the leg, 5, the top portion of the foot, 6,the sole portion of the foot, which may be of heavier fabric than the top of the foot and leg portion, the top and sole of the foot being preferably provided with a circular toe band, 7, extending entirely around the foot and of heavier fabric than the top portion of the foot, to facilitate the toe joining, and 8, represents the toe pocket, of heavier fabric than the top of the' foot, and at least as heavy a fabric as the toe band. The toe pocket of a seamless stocking is produced by knitting a plurality of half or partial courses by reciprocating knitting, on a portion only of the full circle 'of needles, while the remaining portion of the needles are thrown out of operation and hold their stitches, and gradually narrowing the reciprocating courses to the point of the toe, indicated at 9, at which point the narrowest course or courses occur, and then knitting a substantially equal number of courses which are gradually widened, and the stocking is completed by looping a widened course containing the same number of stitches as the last course of the top of the .foot (or the toe band if the latter is employed) to produce the toe joining, indi-i cated at 10. The portion of the toe pocket forming the top portion thereof is indicated -at 8, and it is this portion only which it is proposed to locally reinforce in carrying out our invention. v

This top portion of the to'e pocket is bounded on each side by a line of selvage t stitches, indicated by the dotted lines,`12, 12,

where the end stitches of the narrowed and widenedcourses are united, andE if both the top and bottom portions of the toe pocket were to be made-of fabric sufficiently heavy to certainly withstand the wear of the toe nails against the upper part, these Stitches, which we will term the selvage stitches of the toe, would produce a rough line, which would be very likely to irritate the tender skin at the side of the greattoe, a little-back from the end of the toe, which is particularly sensitive to such irritation, and

articularl subject to rubbing pressure rom the s oe.

In the embodiment of our invention shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3, the top portion, 8a, of the toe is shown provided with a locally reinforced portion lof heavier and firmer fabric for a number of courses extending back fromA the oint or narrowest course or courses of t e toe pocket, a portion only of the distance to the toe joining, and being of a width less than the distance between the lines of selvage stitches, 12. This produces the local reinforcement, indicated by the most heavily shaded portions of the toe in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and comprising a central panel portion extending from the toe tip, 9, back part way only toward the toe joining, and being much narrower than the top of the .toe pocket, and having itslateral edges, 11a, at a distance from the adjacent line of selvage stitches and its rear edge, 1lb.

This extra local reinforcement is preferably formed by introducing an eXtra thread, which may be a plating thread, along with the thread or threads knitting the courses of the top of the toe and feeding the extra thread in opposite directions in alternating courses, in the centrally located stitches only of one course, in one direction,

and in the centrally located stitches of the f next course in the opposite direct-ion, and so on until the panel, l1, is completed and then knitting the remaining courses of the top of the foot without said eXtra reinforcing or plating thread. The eXtra plating or reinforcing thread is therefore continuous throughout the locally reinforced portion, and there are no float threads to be cut and no loose ends at any point in the lateral edges of the panel, or lateral extensions.

The use of a local reinforcement in the form of a panel extending less than all the way across the toe from selvage to selvage, permits of the use of a heavier reinforcing, throughout the panel, or of knitting it with a tighter stitch, or both, resulting in the formation of a panel of firmer, harder, wear resisting fabric at the point of greatest wear than would be possible if it were carried all the way across from one line of selvage stitches to the other, in a seamless stocking, and for the .full width between the selvages of the inset sides of the toe of a full fash ioned stocking. Such a heavy fabric if knit from selvage to selvage and carried back far enough along the selvages to furnish ample protection for the toe of the stocking, would form a very irritating ridge at each side, portions of which a short distance back from the 'tip of the toe of the stocking would seriouslyfirritate thesides of the toes of the wearer, as previously stated, and if knit forv the full length of the toe, would provide an4 unnecessarily firm hard fabric over the toe knuckles tending to produce irritation thereof, and also add in the case of seamless hose, an objectionable ridge across the top slightly greater than 'the panel.v

v course or courses of the toe', so that the lateral edges,^11a, distance from stitches, 12,

of the panel are separated a the adjacent lines of selvage This is particularly desirable in seamless stockings, as it facilitates introduction and removal of the reinforcing or plating thread or threads, in knitting the -courses of the panel adjacent to the point of the toe.

Where it is desired to make the local reinforcement or panel of a width equal to or the length of the narrowest course or courses at the toe tip, the

' 'A extra reinforcmg thread or threads may be edges well removed leave room at each tate the introduction and removal of the.

threads, and the lateral edges,

introduced in all the stitches of a few courses of the top portion of the foot immediately adjacent to the tip of the toe,.that is, immediately adjacent to the narrowest coursel or courses f the toe, after which the extra thread or threads is introduced into the centrally located stitches only of succeeding Acourses to v from the lines of selvage stitches. In Fig. 4 of the drawing, we have shown such a construction, the various parts of the toe illustrated in said figure which correspond with those in the preceding figures being given the same yreference numerals with the ,addition of 100. In this figure it will'be seen that a few courses immedi-V ately adjacent to the tip of the toe are carried from selvage to selvage, after which the lateral edges, 111, are stepped in and the reinforcing thread is confined-to a certain ladjacent to the point of the toe with small indicated at4 triangular lateral extensions, 111., which terminate at the course indicated at 111, beyond which the panel is knit in the centrally located stitches only of succeeding courses. The presence of these small triangular extensions immediately adjacent to the toe tip and the resulting thickening of a vfew of the selvage stitches immediately adjacent to the toetip is not seriously objectionable, as these stitches would not come in contact with the rounded out portion of the great toe a distance back from the extreme tip, and along the inner edge of the'foot, whichA is exposed to side pressure from the cap of the shoe. As the courses adjacent to the tip of the'toe are progressively widened, this construction permits of making the succeeding courses ofthe panel, 111, of a width equal to or greater than the length of the narrowest course or courses at the toe tip and still side of the panel to faciliextra reinforcing or plating thread or 111% being at a distance from the adjacent portions of the throughout the entire length of form the panel with its lateral' `the toes of all varieties of seamless lhave shown the toe portion of a of the toe, indicated-at 209,

along the tender part at' the side of the great toe before referred to will not contain the reinforcing or platin thread, and will not be affected by the loca reinforcement, and consequently cannot produce irritation of the foot.. The rear edge, 111', of the panel terminates as previously described with reference to the other figures at a considerable distance' from the toe joining indicated at 110, so that'the panel may be' made suiiciently heavy and irm to protect the stock ing at its point of greatest Wear from the toe nails withoutdanger of producing irritation of thefoot.'v v 1' With our invention it would be possible'y to knit a stocking without making the bottom portion of the toe and the' top' portion thereof, exclusive of the describedpanel, of heavier fabric, and it is unnecessaryin any case to make such parts of the toe portion of the stocking, exclusive of the described panel,

portion of the toe of the stocking is much.

less than `that on the top of the toe, Where it is exposed to the action ofthetoe nail, which latter wear is fully taken care of by the described panel of heavier fabric.

Our invention Vis also -applicable to full fashioned or straight knit stockings, and it will be understood that itis applicable to and full fashioned stocking, whether half hose or full length hose, and regardless of the material with which they are made. In Fig. wlf

u fashioned stocking, indicated at 208, the top portion, 208, of which is provided with the panel, 211, of heavier fabric, extending from the narrowest course or courses at the point rearwardly a distance considerably less than the length of the upper portion ofthe toe,

rowest course or courses of stitches at the point of the toe, and having its lateral marginal edges, 211, entirely selvages of the inset sides of the'top of the toe, indicated in dot the selvage stitches are lnot thickened or roughened by the additional plating or reinforcing thread, which isknit into the stitches of the heavier panel, 211, through the centrally located stitches of each course of the band, unless it is particu-- the panel being vin this instance of less width than the narremo'ved .from the ted lines at 212, so that v selvage stitches, these stitches which extend llt) panel, in the same manner as hereinbefore described, that is to say, the said reinforcing thread or plating thread is continuous throughout the panel, and extends in opposite" directions through the stitches of al' ternate courses in knitting the top' portion of the toe. y

, an auxiliary thread aiiisni.

so fabric, in vthe upper effect is shown and ..10 may also be carried v stocking having the extending from the point of Our. invention can 5`courses or part'of the courses of the top of the toe port-ion only, in the manner pre- 'viously described, to form the described pglnpl, or by knittingthe stockings on'a suita e guide of speci design carrying the reinforcing or plating thread, and capable of being'moved vby hand or otherwise into and out of voperative position with respect to those needles which 15 knit the panel of the heavier fabric, inthe.

Such additional top port-ion of theV toe. l

manipulated 'by thread guide may be so under the control of suitable pattern inech` carried seamless 'stocking embodying our? invention, by the employment of the well known Hemphill knitting mac'hine, shown for examp 933,433, dated September 7, 1909, by providing anv extra thread guide for feeding the extra reinforcing'or plating thread during the formation -of the panelof heavier portion ofthe toe pocket, if desired, which may be thrown into or out of `operation by hand at opposite lsides of the panel. One form of apparatus by which our invention may be carried into described in an application of Joseph Haas and Russell Evans, filed in the United States `Patent Office, on or about the 14th day of November, 1927, and given Serial No. 233,145, but our invention into effect by other means, if desired.

What' we claim and Letters Patent is 1. As a new' articleof manufacture, a

desire to secure by provided with an panel of heavier fabric extending from l-the'point of the toe rear-` wardly, portions of said panel being of less width thangthe upper portion of the toeand 50 having their lateral edges separated a4 distance from the lateral edges of the toe.

' 2. As a new article of manu-facture, a stocking havin the upper portion -of the provided with a panel of heavier fabric' the toerearwardly a distance less than the length of the top portion of the toe, said panel -having portions of less width than the upper portion of the toe and; having its lateral edges separated a Idistance from the lateral edges of the top portion of the toe.

As a new article of manufacture, a stocking having the upper portion of the toe provided withl a panel of heavier fabric exi tending from a point adjacent to the point knitting machine and providing it with l of the stockinghand, or they `may be operated automatically For Vexample the invention may `be.,k into effect for the production of a .i

le in 25 Letters Patent of tlie United States," No.

`of considerably less width. than the fuppe upper portion ,of the toe' prising a few courses adjacent to courses of the toc of the toe lrearwardly a distance less than I the length of the toe portion of the stocking,

portions of said panel having a substantially, v

uniform width stocking havingthe upper portion of the .toe

provided with a panel of heavier fabric extending from a point adjacent 'to the point of the toe rearwardly a Idistance less than. the length of the toe portion of the stocking and having portions of substantially uni'forii'i "g0'gv width less than the width of the toe portion and having parallel lateral edges separated a considerable distance from the lateral edges of the top portion of the toe, the stitchesforining said panel containing a continuous extra thread, or threads extending through altersubstantially j y nate courses of the stitches of said panel in opposite direct-ions. f 5. As a new article of manufacturefauseamless stocking including selvage vstitches unit' ing the upper and lower portions of the toey pocket and having the upper portion onl of l 'they 'toe pocket heavier fabric extending from. a point adz jacent to the nari'owest course or courses of the .toe pocketv toward the toev joining'and being of less length than the upper portion of the toe pocket, said panel having portionsl r portion of the toe pocket, provided with subprovided with a pane of,

ico

stantially'parallel edges separated a'distance from the adjacent line of selvage stitches which unite the upper and lower portions of the toe pocket.

, 6. As a new article vof manufacture, a

stockinghaving the upper portion of the toe provided with a panel of heavier fabric extending from a point adjacent to the point of the toe a distance back less than the length of the upper portion of the toeand cointhe pointof across the toe, the. panel being oflless the corresponding portion, and the lateral edges of said panel in rear of the courses which extend lentirely across the toe being separated a distance from the of selvage stitches..

As a new less stocking including selvage stitches uniting the upper and lower portions of the toe pocket and having the upper portion of the toe pocket provided with a panel of heavier fabric extending from a point adjacent to the narrowestfcourses of the toe toward the toe joining a distance less than 'the length the toe extending entirel remaining courses of said length than the length of adjacent lines article of manufacture, a' seamof the upper portion of the toe pocket, said n .of stitches adjacent tothe narrowest coursesof the toe extending substantially thefull width of t e upper part of the toe, the other courses of stitc es of said panel being located substantially centrally of the upper' part of the toe pocketand being of less length transversely of the panel than certain courses of thel panel immediately adjacent the narrower portion of said paxel being substantially, parallel and separated a distance from the adjacent lines of selvage 'stitches whichunite the upper., andlower portions of the toe pocket.

, v1,7:aaeaa l g of vstitches ladjacent the narrowest course of the toe, extending wsubstantially the full width of the upper art of the toe, the othercourses of stitches o said panel being located substantially centrally of the upper part of the :toe pocket and being of lesslength transversely of/the panel than certain courses of the panel immediately adjacent tothe tip l of the toe and of less length than the corre-v sponding courses of the `upper` portion of the4 toe pocket, the lateral` edges of the narlrowerportion of said panel being substantially' parallel and separated a considerable distance from the adjacent linesiof selvage stitches which unite the upper and lower portions of the toe pocket, the stitches form- 8. As anew article of manufacture,a seam Jing said panel containing anadditional conless stocking including selvagestitches uniting the upper and lower portions of the toe pocket and-.having theupper portion ofthe toe pocket provided with a panel of heavier v fabric extending from a point adjacent to` the narrowest courses of the toe toward the 'tpe joining a distanceless than the length o f the upper portion of the toe pocket, said l panel comprising a small number of courses tinuous thread or threads extending in opposite. directions through the stitches in alternate courses of the panel.

` In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures.

JOSEPH nails.. i vnnssnni.. Evansi JOHN WYCKOFF Minfrnnnf`A flo 

